In a series of four rulings, the Corpus Christi-Edinburg Court of Appeals has rejected an attempt by the San Patricio County District to assess crude held in a terminal for shipment to international destinations.
EOG Resources Marketing, LLC v. San Patricio County Appraisal District (No. 13-25-00305-CV; March 19, 2026) arose from a dispute between the appraisal district and EOG over the taxability of crude oil sitting in tanks at the Enbridge Terminal in Ingleside. The CAD assessed taxes on the oil in 2022 and 2023. After failing at the ARB, EOG filed suit. The trial court granted the CAD’s motion for summary judgment and denied EOG’s. EOG appealed.
In an opinion by Justice West, the court of appeals reversed and rendered. EOG averred that it did not use the terminal for transport of oil to domestic destinations. Instead, it went to international destinations, including Italy, South Korea, Peru, the Netherlands, France, and the UK. Additionally, the oil was loaded onto internationally flagged vessels barred by federal law from transporting oil in the US for domestic use. EOG submitted proof that all the vessels were indeed foreign-owned.
The court observed that it had “recently held that crude oil—pre-sold to foreign destinations that is merely waiting in holding tanks until a sufficient quantity accumulates such that a ship can be loaded—enjoys bright line immunity from taxation under the Import-Export Clause of the United States Constitution.” San Patricio Cty. Appraisal Dist. V. Gunvor USA LLC., No. 13-24-00590-CV, 2026 WL 59714 at *14, __ S.W.3d __ (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi-Edinburg Jan. 8, 2026) (additional citations omitted). The court thus added this case to the list. The CAD attempted to argue that EOG had to prove that the oil actually reached its foreign destinations, but the court was having none of it. Once EOG showed that the vessels were foreign-owned, that was enough. Having lost three cases in rapid succession on the same issue, one has to wonder why the CAD didn’t drop the appeal and save the court from repeating itself.
